Des idées et des hommes : patronage électoral et culture politique en Corse

Abstract

When dealing with electoral patronage, writers generally take a functionalist and specialized view. They argue that the patron-client relationship is characterised above all by exchange of goods and services and dominated by expectation of concrete rewards. In Corsica, the patron-client relationship is also informed by symbolic schemes i.e. ideas and values relating to society in general. Though having actual consequences on political organization, these ideas and values are not political in the modem sense of the term.